To ask about usual chestnut with secondary school decisions

I know the schools you are talking about. I would say, as others have, it depends whether academic results or pastoral care are more important to you. You may not have any concerns right now, but if you were in need or support for whatever reason - illness / mental health / etc which school would support best? Perhaps ask some questions about behaviour policies, what is the current focus of the school improvement plans, what is the structure of pastoral care? In my experience most kids will do best academically when they are happy and feel cared for... But if they are unhappy, they will not meet their potential.

Having taught in a challenging secondary with poor behaviour I would choose the first school. Disruptive behaviour makes everything so much harder for kids who are focused and want to learn. It discourages kids who are a bit more easily swayed and need a solid ethos. It doesn't work for the kids who are disruptive themselves (who do this for a myriad of reasons) as they end up at best underachieving, often in trouble and still hating school.

A solid ethos in a school (not necessarily religious but of hard work and wanting to achieve) is key for me.

It’s what ever school will suit her best. You could stick a very smart student in a amazingly high preforming school and they fail due to the pure pressure of the school, you can stick a smart student in an ok school and the thrive. You need to see the support they offer both students and actually the whole family of the students when issues arise.

You need to look at the progress scores. A school going from below to average to above is a school working hard to up its game. A school coasting is coasting basically and will eventually fall behind.

When did the SLT change most recently in each? From experience, ofsted will go up or down within a year or two of a change. I’d discount results and inspections that have seen a change since.
id say go by feel, and by what your daughter needs. Does she need strict or supportive? Is she likely to be easily distracted? How important is structure to her? What is most important for her: pastoral care or academia or a range of different activities?

(I’m currently choosing a secondary for my 4th DC. The other 3 all had different first choices as they are very different people.)

Is your daughter particularly academic? Will she thrive in the kind of school that pushes for results, piles on homework, etc, and where there is also strict discipline? Mine wouldn't, she gets anxious, which is why we sent her somewhere that had good results but also emphasised pastoral care and mental well being.

Also, where are her primary friends going?

How does a Catholic school have a "c of e ethos"?

We live within walking distance which is great when they have to be in early or stay late. Re the starting in year 9 gcses this could easily change by the time your dc picks as ofstead don't like that. Our high school is huge and yes bit daunting at 1st but they soon find their way round and often means more opportunities/choices than a smaller school.

Check the 3 year GCSE timings . My DD school does a split thing where they do provisional GCSE choices in Y8 and start them in Y9 but crucially they don't drop any key subjects until Y10. This means they get a kind of trial year with a. Completely new subject and if it doesn't work out they can drop it Y10 and just choose options from the core subjects.

Only caveat is they cannot generally add a brand new option subject in Y10 (but one of my DDs friends did - they are generally top sets so maybe they thought they could catch up)

We had the same type of choice for our DS (he'sjust done his gcses). We choose the 1st option. It was definitely the right decision.

Also, I would definitely to be open to a school that's turning things around than one that might go into decline under its new academy status. If the SLT have got the 2nd school to good status from requires improvement, they must be doing something right.

Sounds like the catchment school is very glossy but I agree with @RedWingBoots .
Facilities add absolutely nothing if nobody can use them properly.

This is always about your child and not the school, which is best for your DD needs.

If one school is single sex and smaller class sizes then this would be beneficial to most girls.

If she is super confident and sporty she may get on just fine in the catchment school with decent sports facilities

It comes down to what she needs.

take your daughter to see school 2 and see which she prefers.

one of my DC goes to a school sounds similarish to school 1 and the other to one similarish to school 2. They're both in the school they actively wanted to go to, and that suits them, and the other one wouldn't so much.

I do think that distance is important, it's not just about getting there when the buses are cancelled etc, it's also about where all the friends they make are, and how easy it is for them to socialise.

I work in schools in the area and have friends with children at school S. For those confused, the first school is a C of E school who took over the site of a Catholic school. No connection to that school other than that they now use the buildings!
There has been a lot of change over the last few years including a new head and converting to an academy. The other school has a very different cohort and the challenges are different there. I would say don't assume that pastoral needs are all about free school meals and challenging families - the pastoral care is about how they manage students who are not like the rest in any way - are they flexible, how many parental complaints do they get, how do they respond? What is the tutor system like? Is the first port of call the tutor or the office?

I much prefer starting GCSE subjects in year 9, unfortunately our school is making the change too but glad it has benefitted us.
My daughter got to drop those subjects she hated and focus on the ones she enjoys. Also for history, Science and English there is so much content, it would be harder over two years.
She will be finished her content a little early and can focus on exam technique etc, much less stress.

I would pick the first school without a doubt, for this reason and the discipline.

For dd I choose the school with the best pastoral care. And thank god I did. We needed it.

Results mean nothing if your kid is struggling with other teen issues.

She ended up getting great GCSEs despite a ton of issues.

The child you start secondary with very often isn't the child That walks out in year 11.

Go with your gut.

Are either of them offering day time tours? It is definitely worth looking around not on an open evening - this is very much about presenting the "public face" of the school. An opportunity to chat to staff/students informally allows you to ask about the things that concern you and get a feel for the school. only you will be able to consider what type of child you have and what sort of environment they would thrive in.

The 2/3 yr gcse thing is interesting - most schools moved to this to increase the time spent on gcse subjects to increase results. However this comes at the cost of a shorter ks3 and therefore a reduced "broad and balanced" education - dropping subjects earlier than the DfE plan. Ofsted have said that schools need to be able to show that this is not the case and schools are now looking at returning to a 2yr gcse in fear of ofsted downgrading as they can't evidence this. Most schools in your area do a 3 yr gcse and it is being reviewed at many of them.

The upgrade in Ofsted rating at the second school shows the school is on an upward trajectory - historical problems are not such an issue. But ask them about the things that concern you. How do bright students do - are they challenged? What is their staff turnover like now? What is their focus for improvement?

Maybe the reason you can't decide easily is that both are fine. Not everything has to be a major life changing decision and as the biggest single factor which will impact a child's outcomes is home, the difference between decent school A and decent school B must be marginal.

In which case, if I was being pragmatic I would either pick the one that would benefit the rest of her life the most (easy commute, local friends are worth a lot) or I would just apply for the one that is hardest to get into because then if it turns out to be crap you have a higher chance of getting a speedy transfer to the other, and if it turns out to be good then that's all fine.